The Eater of Memories: Chronicles of an Urban Medium

The protagonist, Lu Chen, gains a new “memory backlash” setting: each time he activates a “memory fold point,” his body retains the deceased person’s “mark of death.” For example, after coming into contact with someone who died by electrocution, charred marks remain on his fingertips for a long time; after coming into contact with someone who drowned, river water inexplicably seeps from his skin. Once three marks have accumulated, he briefly loses control of his body, perhaps walking unconsciously toward a power outlet or heading for the riverbank. This hints that “he is gradually becoming a vessel for the remnants of the dead.”

An addition to the worldbuilding: “memory devourers” can alter reality through “memory contamination.” For example, they can make the clocks in a memoryless person’s home stay frozen at the time of the deceased’s death, or cause vessels of lingering memories to operate on their own when no one is around, such as a smart speaker playing a recording by itself in the middle of the night or a smart mirror suddenly lighting up. The contamination spreads as the “memory master’s” seal is undone. Later, the streetlights throughout the old district will turn dark red, like bloodstained bones.